Abstract

This guideline focuses on the pharmacotherapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is characterised by obsessions and compulsions. A number of other disorders are also characterised by repetitive thoughts and rituals and may also respond to modifications of standard OCD treatment. These so-called OCD spectrum disorders include body dysmorphic disorder (characterised by recurrent concerns with imagined ugliness), hypochondriasis (characterised by recurrent concerns with imagined illness), trichotillomania (characterised by recurrent hair-pulling), and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition has a new chapter on obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, which includes several of these conditions.